The Ugly Spectre of Rust in the Bore!

[303Guy]

I got out my pride and joy 1902 Lee Enfield with a 'new' barrel in preparation for the up and coming paper patch postal competition. I gave the bore a precursary inspection and there it was! RUST:!: :evil: :holysheep :(

I swabbed the bore with some Sweets and it came out red with rust! I had a sense of humour failure at about that time and went into a state of numbed shock. Looking down the bore again I could see those ugly lumps but after cleaning the rust pitts it appeared to be only between the lands. Some hope began to seap back in.

Well, nothing to be done but to clean out the rust as best one can and fire-lap the old girl and see what can be salvaged. So I proceeded to fire-lap her with valve grinding paste then on to polishing compound then a cleanout to check for progress. Gone! All of it! I've no idea what it was but it sure looked like rust. So, having taken some medicated beverage after doing a little more fire-polishing, I'm now a happy camper.:drinks:
(Well, my heart is still pounding a little).:roll:

[leftiye]

Whew! I had a muzzle loader once that got a thin coat of rust all over for some reason, it did affect accuracy too.

[R.M.]

What kind of bore protection had you used when you put it away last? Could it be residue from that?

[303Guy]

It was rust alright. The damage is just so slight that it can't be seen by eye by looking down the bore. I had used an oil that had served me well in the past but for some reason it failed me now. The lumps it formed were huge. I'll be going back to my old favourite, Hoppes No.9. The oil is fine for hunting trips but not long term obviously. The great thing about the oil is that all it needs is a dry patch and the gun is ready to shoot again. It still protects after being wiped out - while out hunting.

[XWrench3]

R U S T ! ! ! YUK!! I Hate that word on ANYTHINHG! let alone guns. i make my own rust protection. on a lint free cloth, i add the following. STP, ATF, 5W30 Castrol GTX, and enough rem oil (from a spray can) that it makes the lube NOT thick as gorilla snot. i suppose you could make up the same mix in a jar or bottle, and coat the inside of the bore with a patch. the rem oil acts as a carrier to aid in penetration, then evaporates off, leaving a nice thing very rust resistant coating. i once stored a Browning Sweet 16 that was my fathers by coating every metal surface with straight STP. after 20 years in storage in closets, and the last 7 years in a gun safe, after a lengthy clean up, it was PERFECT! not one spec of rust anywhere. and that was the goal. the only thing i would caution about would be to tag the firearm if you use it in the bore. a fully loaded round through a bore coated in straight STP would certainly cause a severe over pressure. MAKE SURE YOU GET TI OUT OF THE BORE BEFORE SHOOTING!

[JDL]

And never make the mistake by thinking the lube from boolits will protect the bore when living in humid climates! Now, all of mine get a shot of Ed's Red.

[unique]

I have had rust show up in bore as well for no apparent reason.

I decide to run couple experiments where I took old garand barrel and ran it through the lathe to point of clean shine metal. I then cut slight section marks and applied different lubes to marked sections then set outside during summer (PA) so fairly humid. I checked it each day and made notes.

What I found that surprised me was Break Free Preservative and FP10 did great job for first five days then over short period of day or two formed a heavy pitting rust. I couldn't believe it so did same test two more times in spring and winter and same thing.

Break Free Preservative and & FP10 would be best by far for 5 to 7 days then something happened. I don't think there was anything magical about number of days it took and it seemed as if CLP & FP10 were forming acid somehow. The rifle that had bore rusted badly for no apparent reason had been swabbed with FP10. So I do not know what is going on but I don't use CLP or FP10 anymore.


The best I found was rig grease but not really a lube. The best lube was good old miliary LSA. Ballistol was ok, not good but nothing like Break Free Preservativeand & FP10. I also tried couple different turbine oils (ROYCO 555) and one of the zoom spout types.

I also tried pure jojoba oil which was surprising good and straight heavy weight gear oil which was very good.

What I use as standard wipe down outside and bore is mixture 1part LSA and 3 parts Kroil. I tested this and and was almost as good straight LSA.

[John Boy]

A patch of Eezox in the bore before the firearm is put away is the best rust preventative product that I've found and tested.
A good BPCR shooter in MO where humidity is abnormally high, before using Eezox, couldn't keep rust out of the bores of his rifles. Since using it - he swears by it.
Keith Lay is a top ranking NRA BPCR match competitor. So the care of his firearms are important to him

[felix]

That is correct, Joe. Any of these lubes can and will become lower in ph after being fired. It's because of the air-to-organic feeding microbes and/or the chemistry change of the lube itself because of the firing heat and/or the powder residue chemicals. A low ph, just how low I don't really know, will encourage rust. This is one reason the various engine oils must/should be changed after being fired upon within a certain amount of time, say 3 months. The other reason is that the oils become more viscus, and the boolit lubes become like concrete if given enough time. ... felix

[madsenshooter]

I wouldn't use anything with ATF in it. Some years ago I was moving from my parents and my reloading equipment didn't come along at the time. I put all my dies in a pail and covered them with ATF as it was handy. 5 years later I've got a pail full of rusty dies, even though they were completely submerged in the stuff. Obviously the fluid isn't meant as an anti-oxidant.

[geargnasher]

Actually, ATF contains a variety of oxidation inhibitors. Submerging your dies in it will only work if you put something, like an upside-down plastic basket, in the bottom of the bucket, because in a few years you'll have several inches of water in the bottom.

303Guy, don't dispair, this old Savage .30-30 has a pretty badly pitted bore, although the rifling is very clean and sharp, the crown decent, and the throat and chamber good. This was the first 50-yard group for accuracy that the rifle ever shot with cast after a mild firelapping with home-embedded boolits and 400-grit Clover Compound, 5/8" with buckhorn and bead factory "sights":

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=24079&d=1280378396

Gear

[303Guy]

Break Free Preservative and & FP10 would be best by far for 5 to 7 days then something happened.Bingo! :idea: I use Rapid-Tap. Very good initially. That explains what happened to me and my observations. That confirms that it's good for hunting trips and cleaning of the bore as well as protecting and treating the outside parts when they get wet on a hunting trip but definately not a storage preservative. It makes a good short term lubricant too.

geargnasher, that's one beautiful rifle! Beautiful group too. Yup, I know that rusted bores don't spoil accuracy all that much but it's the thought of a mint bore being unecessarily damaged! Just the thought! At least I can't see the damage so in my mind it isn't there.

[Ron in PA]

Try some Marvel Mystery Oil

[casterofboolits]

I use Birchwood Casey Sheath, never a spot of rust.

[runfiverun]

i like the sheath also i use it before hunting in the snow.
and G-96 if going in the rain..
i usually wipe the outsides of everything with G-96 as it is needed.
glad i live where the humidity is usually low.

[JDL]

I use Birchwood Casey Sheath, never a spot of rust.

Do you apply it after cleaning with other solvent or clean with it? I have had a can of it for several years but, haven't really tried it out, it seems so thin.

[atr]

gads I know the feeling....my perfect bore on a .308win developed a touch of rust down by the throat because I left some cleaner which contained ammonia in to long......I was devastated !....but thankfully got it cleaned up....alls well that ends well

atr

[blackthorn]

For the OUTSIDE of my firearms I use Simonize paste wax. Apply, let dry and buff to remove any excess. Inside I use Ed's red.

[63 Shiloh]

303 Guy,

Mate, try some Septone eco Marine Grade Lanolin, it also has an rust inhibitor added to it.

I live in West Australia on the coast, I have found rust in my BP bores. Tried quite a few gun related lubes and oils, works OK. The Lanolin mix is the best by far though, cheap too!

Wipes out easy before a shoot and will not harm wood.


Mike

[Three44s]

CorrosionX



Three 44s

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

i like the sheath also i use it before hunting in the snow.
and G-96 if going in the rain..
i usually wipe the outsides of everything with G-96 as it is needed.
glad i live where the humidity is usually low.

+1 on G-96


"i usually wipe the outsides of everything with G-96 as it is needed."
me too.
Jon

[MBTcustom]

Just thought I would put in my two cents worth. In my line of work, I have done extensive testing to find a rust inhibitor that will give flawless protection for at least 6 months. I was making small parts out of S-7 steel. After machining, they needed to be vapor blasted, after that operation they had to be put into 1000 count plastic bags. They would often stay in those plastic bags for 6 months before they were ready to ship and the customer would have a cow if there was so much as a spec of rust the size of a pinhead on any of the parts. The only problem was that they were made of a ferrous metal and the vapor blaster impregnated the surface of the parts with moisture. The situation was ideal for growing rust in a hurry. I began experimenting systematically with every rust preventative substance I could think of. I tried WD-40, transmission fluid, motor oil, silicone oil, and various expensive "rust inhibitors". some things worked kinda-sorta-sometimes OK but nothing would give me perfect results, until one day I was running one of the CNC mills and it dawned on me that none of the cast iron frames on any of the old CNC's had any rust on them. The water soluble coolant we were using was protecting the machines from rusting. I decided to try it out on my parts and would you believe it knocked out the rust 100%? The coolant we were using was made by cimcool its called Cimtech 400 Pink. if you could get your hands on some of that stuff, I doubt you would ever have another problem.

[felix]

The coolant we were using was made by cimcool its called Cimtech 400 Pink, Blue, or Clear. if you could get your hands on some of that stuff, I doubt you would ever have another problem.

I use this with BP patch applications. Works good, even though the ph is high. The high ph protects the barrel and counters the low ph sulfur in the powder, especially after being fired. ... felix

[Simonpie]

Sometimes when you buy small automotive parts, especially Japanese motorcycle stuff, it comes with a piece of tan paper in the bag. This is Volatile Corrosion Inhibitor (VCI). You can buy it from McMaster Carr, but just hitting your local bike shop while asking for wheel weights works too. It likes to be close to the part, like in a gun case, but a few sheets in a gun cabinet helps too. It works awesome.

[Longwood]

This was the first 50-yard group for accuracy that the rifle ever shot with cast after a mild firelapping with home-embedded boolits and 400-grit Clover Compound, 5/8" with buckhorn and bead factory "sights":


Gear

That group looks good. Well,,, except for the three flyers on the right. :veryconfu

[lead Foot]

Some good tips here. One more is to store your rifles, barrel down on an oily rag with the bolt closed.
Lead foot;

[RayinNH]

I swab the bore with a patch covered with Lee Liquid Alox. The bore is also lubed for the first shot next time...Ray

[303Guy]

... would you believe it knocked out the rust 100%? The coolant we were using was made by cimcool its called Cimtech 400 Pink.Thanks for that. A high pH would indeed stop rust in a moist environment. Acids dissolve or convert rust. I wonder whether Hoppe's works in the same way? Using a water soluble lubricant makes a lot of sense for field use too.